Police: Marietta nurse could have up to 100 victims

By Mike Morris

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

A Marietta nurse anesthetist arrested last week for unlawful surveillance and eavesdropping on patients has been arrested again, and police said Tuesday that he could have as many as 100 victims.

Paul Patrick Serdula, 47, was arrested Monday night on child molestation and sodomy charges after a juvenile was identified as an alleged victim of the man, Cobb County police Sgt. Dana Pierce said.

Pierce said the investigation into Serdula is "far from over," and more charges are likely as additional victims come forward.

"We have victims, probably, in the early double-digits, and we expect as many as 100," Pierce said late Tuesday morning.

He said detectives have talked to "a number of victims, or people who believe they are victims."

Police are "dedicating a lot of resources" to the investigation, Pierce said.

Serdula was arrested for the second time in less than a week about 10 p.m. Monday at a local Holiday Inn Express, according to the Cobb County Sheriff's Office Web site.

New charges lodged against Serdula on Monday include aggravated child molestation and aggravated sexual battery stemming from an alleged incident on July 29, and aggravated sodomy allegedly committed on Sept. 16, according to jail records.

Pierce said the new charges  "will probably keep him in jail without bond."

Serdula was initially arrested Wednesday on three counts of unlawful surveillance of patients at a dental office.

During an earlier search of Serdula's Forest Peak Court home, electronic recording devices and hundreds of videos were seized by investigators, Pierce said.

The investigation began when a woman spotted a video recording device in the bathroom at her dental office, located in the 600 block of Galleria Parkway. She immediately called 911, Pierce said.

"We are looking at tapes not only from the incident that occurred at the dental office, but also other incidents that are recorded that we are trying to find the location of that criminal activity as well as identify the victims," Pierce said.

Serdula, a contracted nurse anesthetist, did not work directly for any dental or medical physician, police said. But he may have been employed at numerous medical facilities.

According to the Georgia Secretary of State's Office, Serdula was issued a nursing license on Dec. 16, 1997. Prior to that, Serdula held a nursing license in Florida.

Pierce said that anyone who thinks they might be a victim should first contact their physician or dentist, "find out if in fact Serdula was the one who administered anesthesia to them, and if that is the case, at that point, contact us and we will begin to investigate."